Biden mischaracterizes his uncle’s disappearance during World War II

President Joe Biden on Wednesday misrepresented the circumstances of his uncle’s World War II death by blasting former President Donald Trump’s comments about the military.

“He was shot in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be – there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea,” he said. Biden said during his speech, invoking his uncle Ambrose J. Finnegan.

However, U.S. military records of Finnegan’s death do not mention that the plane was shot down or speak of cannibalism.

“For unknown reasons, this aircraft was forced to land in the ocean off the northern coast of New Guinea,” records state. “Both engines failed at low altitude and the nose of the plane hit the water hard.”

The three men killed in the crash have not been found, records show.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates did not directly address the apparent inaccuracy. He noted in a statement to NBC News that Biden was “proud of the uniformed service of his uncle, who lost his life when the military plane he was on crashed into the Pacific after taking off near the New Guinea”.

“The president highlighted his uncle’s story in pleading for upholding our ‘sacred commitment…to equip those we send to war and to care for them and their families when they return home house’, and reiterating that the last thing American veterans are ‘suckers’ or ‘losers,’” Bates added.

During his speech, Biden drew a contrast between his family’s military service and Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric toward the military, such as Trump calling fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers.” ”, according to an article published in The Atlantic. Trump has denied making the remarks.

“‘Suckers and losers.’ This man does not deserve to be commander in chief to my son, my uncle,” Biden said during his speech.

Biden also speaks frequently about his son Beau Biden, who served in the Delaware National Guard and was deployed to Iraq. His son died in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer. Biden has previously falsely stated that he lost his son “in Iraq,” although his son died in the United States after returning from military service. Biden also apparently misinterpreted the war record of another of his uncles when he falsely talked about trying to present a Purple Heart to his Uncle Frank, according to FactCheck.org.